Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, centre, chats with Opposition Leader Arnhim Eustace and Sen. Vynnette Frederick at Rock Gutter on Monday. (Photo: Duggie "Nose" Joseph/Facebook)

Police and government officials say that five bodies were recovered from the sea, and one person died in hospital, and another died on the way to hospital. Photo: St Vincent I-Witness News

A brief statement from the Office of the Prime Minister acknowledged that the postponement is as “a result of the tragedy in the Fancy area” and that Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves, who was due to deliver the national budget, will provide a date for the parliamentary session later on Tuesday.

The Ministry of Health said it could verify that five people were killed as a result of the incident in which the minibus plunged into the seas at Rock Gutter, a community between Owia and Fancy in north-eastern St. Vincent on Monday.

Teams Tuesday resumed their search for two people reported missing and Communications officer in the Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment, Neeka Anderson-Isaacs, confirmed that 10 people had been hospitalised at the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital (MCMH) while four others are at the hospital in Georgetown.

St. Lucia Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony in a statement Tuesday extended condolences and sympathy to the people of SVG and recalled that just over three years ago, St. Lucia suffered a similar tragedy.

Anthony said while he understands “this must be a very difficult time for the people in St. Vincent and the Grenadines…a loss of this nature touches all of us throughout the region, and draws us closer together as a people.”

He said it is never easy to deal with an accident of this magnitude and that the pain and sorrow are magnified when children are involved.

“I call on my fellow St. Lucians to spare a thought and say a prayer for those families, who must be in such turmoil right now.

“Our children are of paramount importance, and I take this opportunity to add my voice, my thoughts and prayers for the schools, the communities and the homes that have been impacted by the terrible accident that took place on Monday morning,” Anthony said.

Meanwhile, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General Irwin La Rocque said the accident has “deeply saddened” CARICOM and “in this trying time of such grave loss, the Community stands with St. Vincent and the Grenadines”.

La Rocque said “the Community’s grief is heightened by the fact that many among the deceased were school children”.

See article published January 12, 2015

At least 7 dead as bus plunges into sea in St Vincent

By Kenton X. Chance

At least seven persons, mainly students, died after a minibus plunged into the sea in Rockguter, an area between Owia and Fancy on the northeastern tip of St. Vincent Monday morning.

Police and government officials say that five bodies were recovered from the sea, and one person died in hospital, and another died on the way to hospital.

Police are still trying to verify how many persons were in the minibus when it plunged into the sea sometime between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m.

One police source has said that officials were told that the minibus, which is licensed to carry 18 passengers, was “full” when it left Fancy, the northernmost community in St. Vincent.

Residents say that minibus was packed with students on their way to North Union and Georgetown Secondary Schools, two communities further south in this North Windward constituency.

They say that the conductor was standing, a suggestion that the minibus was carrying more persons that it is licensed to, a common practice in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

A large crowd has gathered at the scene where two Coastguard patrol boats were looking for bodies or survivors.

The efforts are being affected by especially large waves characteristic of the Atlantic side of St. Vincent, where the terrain is an alternation of steep inclines and deep gorges and winding roads.

Among the bodies recovered from the water is that of a female student dressed him her school shirt.

Her body showed signed of trauma, presumably inflicted as it knocked against the large rocks that line the shore.

Civilians standing on the rock pulled the body from the water about an hour after onlookers initially saw spotted it bobbing about in the foamy water.

Villagers say that a boy who I believed to have suffered broken legs was swimming in the water and was taken to hospital.It is not yet clear what caused the incident, but police say that villagers were notified by persons who jumped out of the vehicle before impact.

In the wake of the tragedy, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves has announced a postponement of his Budget Speech, which was scheduled for Monday afternoon.

The speech will now be made Tuesday afternoon.

Gonsalves, Leader of the Opposite Arhnim Eustace, and other members of Parliament, including Minister of Transport, Sen. Julian Francis were among government officials who have visited the scene.

Government vehicles transported to the site the staff of the schools whose students were involved in the tragedy. (St Vincent I-witness News)